Cruel Wisdom
by H7
Summary: The last battle with Ganon through Zelda's eyes. Her thoughts on Link, and how time has changed him. Slight romantic thoughts, and of the rising darkness that dwells within them and binds them all Power, Wisdom, and Courage. One shot. Revamped.


_**Legend of Zelda **_

_Cruel Wisdom_

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_Beware the Spoilers:D_

_Disclaimer : I do not own Zelda in any way, shape, or form. Nor am I making any money off of this._

_Warnings : Bit of blood, violence, and gore, as well as some strange thoughts and ramblings. A bit on the strange side _

_but I think it fits in with the T rating - anyone disagree? Let me know why and I'll bump up the rating if it comes to that._

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_The cruelest lies are often told in silence._

_Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894)_

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The fire light dances in his hair like a being born of flame, crowning him with royal gold.

My eyes gleam as the sword descends, falling with the weight of the world and he parries it with a harsh shrug, slipping in beneath the next attack, under one of Ganon's great swings and right up to the beast. His sword flashes in the light, golden and crimson, but the hide of the monster is thick and Ganon simply laughs at him, booming voice echoing on the edge of the world. The next strike and the boy isn't so lucky, and I can see it in his eyes, a sudden flash of fear and fury - two opposite yet undeniably bonded emotions.

The blades meet flesh and he goes flying, twisting through the air to meet the ground once more, flesh sliding against harsh stone and leaving a bloodied arch in their wake. He rolls across the stone, body bouncing like a ragged old doll, but at last he comes to a stop, before the large fires that rise around the battlefield, and again the fire plays with his hair and in the light his tunic is not _green_, it is black and crimson, burnt at the edges of the sleeves and covered in soot, and he looks up at me with those piercing blue eyes and he _pleads-_

I raise my hand, and point back, toward the battle.

A grimace, but he slowly rises to his feet, swaying where he stands.

But, as always, he _obeys._

Without warning the bulky form of the Gerudo King descends upon us, his twin swords gleaming in the twighlight fires like the Goddess Din, herself, given form. Link moves to dodge, leaping to the side and rolling, deathly silent even as he drags sore wounds over jagged rock and rubble, around and behind his attacker and like lightening he is on his feet again, slashing with all the fury of the madman set loose, and the fire is in his eyes and they _glimmer_ in the dark-

Link screams his rage as his steel cuts to bone.

Ganon roars in agony as his flesh is torn asunder.

And I smile.

Ganon whips around, backhanding the boy with a hand the size of a full grown man and the boy is sent flying into a pillar, where he hits with enough force to _crack_ the stone and cascade rubble all around himself. Dust descends, but without even checking, Ganon is rushing towards the victim, towards his prey, his footsteps shaking the very platform on which we stand. Link has just enough time to raise his head and stare bleary eyed at the monstrosity that speeds his way.

The Gerudo King grabs the boy by the arm, and the rest of the Hero hangs limp from his grasp, again, like a child's discarded plaything and there is the loud sound of the _snap_ of bone, and my Hero screams something in pain and fury and Ganon laughs, the laughter turning to screams as with his other arm, his right arm, Link has slashed with the Master Sword, the metal gleaming as it flies in its terrible arch to imbed itself deep into the Holder of Power's bicep, the metal hitting flesh with the deep _thunk_ of a knife stabbed deep into the fresh meat.

Ganon lets go with a horrific wail, one giant hand rushing to the bleeding wound, and dropping Link to the ground. The Hero, injured and weak rises from the ground, slow and dizzy but _detirmed_ and a grim smile comes to my face as without warning, the fires burn deeply within him and he _bolts_ forward, toward the monster that stands before him, strong and ruthless. Despite wounds and weakness he still battles on, a demon in his own right.

But I cannot argue, nor am I at all surprised. Why should I be? We three are all demons in our own rights.

Ganon sees him coming, and releasing his wound he attempts to swipe the Hero out of the way, like the megre mortal that he is. I know that Ganon has found something, something deep and powerful - he has found the _true _strength of the Triforce of Power, and now he holds all the power of his third, and he stands before us like a twisted demi-god of anger and rage. His body is _malignant _and _vile_, a cancerous boil on the face of the races of our world, upon Hyrule, distorted beyond recongition by power without wisdom, nor courage.

I cannot help but wonder if our Triforces will twist us, too, upon our realization.

In my heart I cannot wait for that day.

Even as Ganon swings at the Hero, I can see that he sees his mistake, his own doom - for while that it may be true that the Hero is merely a mortal, no better than myself, or even he, the King of Evil, he is no less than the rest of us, and that fuels his strength and his own anger - a fierce flame that shines in his eyes. It is his own mortality that forces his soul to burn as he twists away from the impending blow to yet again roll across grey rock and yet again he's on his feet, running right underneath Ganon to the weak flesh that resides behind the monster.

Ganon realizes his plans and makes a hasty strike downward, forcing the butt of the hilt of his blade deep into the stone below, cracking it like thin glass.

The stone ripples with his might.

Link sees and he moves and he escapes by a hair, but instead of fear, there is just anger in his face as he stumbles back to his feet to continue, but Ganon has planned and for once I credit the fool with intelligence - his blade is already close to the ground and now he brings it in a swipe to the side. Link stares at his impending doom with wide eyes and I frown, cursing his sudden stupidity, but once again, he catches himself before he can fall over the precepice.

His sword rises to catch the blow, but his arm is weak and though his actions save his life, they cannot save his blade and the Master Sword goes flying with the momentium, over the ring of fire. I stumble back with a gasp as it comes to land, tip first, in the ground where I _was_ standing, its beautiful surface shinning, alternating between silver in gold in the dancing flames.

Link stumbles, to his knees, clutching his wounded arm, and Ganon turns towards me, towards the sword, laughing deeply in the back of his throat. He raises one hand in a gesture with which I am unfamiliar, and I gasp again, taking another step back as the fires swell and stretch forward, widening and engulfing the sword. The holy blade does not burn, no, but it is now beyond Link's reach and he can see that, and his eyes shine weakly in the fire light, dim with despair and worry. Ganon turns toward him again, and the worry and fear and anxiety fall away and are replaced with rage as Link reaches for his secondary weapon - his bow.

Ganon laughs but I can see his folly.

So too can he, unless he truly is a greater fool than I imagined.

When Ganon began this war, he chose the many allies of darkness and evil as his servants. They were weak and mindless, but numerous and obedient. They are things of regret and sorrow and are to be pitied, for no matter what their fate, what phantasmal outcome that fate shall bestow upon them, they always have been and always _shall_ be monsters - nothing more, nothing less.

When I chose my warrior, I was limited - the Knights of Hyrule were my preferred choice, but Daddy wouldn't listen - _and now Daddy's _dead - and so I was left with the one person who stood tall in my dreams. A small little boy, short for his age, gifted with bravery, innocence, and childish pride. Someone who had no idea just who or what it was that they were fighting for, but was willing to fight _nonetheless._

This battle has already been decided, and I say that not through prophecy or personal beliefs. We won not through armies and ideals and tatics, rather, we won through sheer _might._

Ganon shall soon learn that the ferocity of the human spirit is a force all of its own.

It would be many years into Ganon's reign before I would realize the wisdom of my actions. But, that was in its own way good and proper, for then, hidden behind cloth and false identies, all I had was time.

By taking the pure, unadultered child, I created my greatest tool. Though means unintentional, I twisted him and I changed him, filled him with sorrow and rage and that fierce feeling known as survival. I took him and I _broke_ him.

Link fires an arrow, and it flies straight and true, striking deep into the vulnerable flesh of Ganon's tail. The beast shrieks and flinches, as if vainly trying to protect his vunlerable spot, but rather he enlarges the opportunity and Link fires again, and again and again. The second shot hits again, the third shot misses by a hair but the forth shot is again true and Ganon _screams_ his agony loud enough, that I am sure that even the creatures in the Dark World can hear his terrible cries.

When a man is given a weapon, and told to protect, he becomes a soldier.

When a man is given a weapon, taught of his world and what is right, and trained in the arts of honorable battle, he becomes a warrior.

When a _child_ is given nothing, but instead thrust into the world of life and death without a clue of why he is truly there. . .he becomes something. . .less than human.

And it is that anger, rage, and fury and the unknowing that have carried that child so far - have brought him here, on this pedestal before the Goddesses where our great clash shall decide the future of Hyrule, of the Golden Land, and it is those same, pure feelings that have already won this battle for us, for as long as Link breathes, I know he will fight for his life and, coincidentially, Hyrule. He has fought and come so far in so little time - and he can so much farther _yet._

When something is broken, it can never quite be fixed, rather, it must be _remade._

Recreated and reshaped from a snivelling child of weakness, my greatest warrior has become a machine of fury - a monster that fights for his survival against what by all rights should have been insurmountable odds. It is not a game to him, it is no longer an issue of helping a country which he knows so little about - he has risen above the ranks and the strengths of the Knights of Hyrule, far above the dangerous, mindlessness of Ganon's monsters - far above even their unquestionable obedience.

Ganon falls to his giant hands and to his knees, panting and gasping as his strength ebbs from him like his blood, dripping down his arms in unsteady rivuelttes. Link stares him down, eye to eye, that fire still there, dancing in his gaze even as the ring of fire dies with the rest of Ganon's strength.

There's a moment of silence, where the world stops moving and time slows. There is no sound, there is nothing beyond Ganon's panting and Link's fierce eyed gaze, and then sudden the moment ends and I find my voice again. I call the hero over, one arm delicately gesturing towards the sword, still embedded in the ground before me. The fire is gone and again the weapon is accessible to the Hero, the hilt gleaming still as if the fires still light its shining surface.

Link turns to me, my voice breaking him out of his trance and his eyes glance to mine, the burning vesteges of his anger still there, but when the sword catches his eyes he blinks and again he is the Hero, and not some monster. He gives a quick glance back and Ganon, who is still downed, before heading my way with a few stumbling steps before breaking out to a full out run. He skids to a stop before me and the blade and within moments, his guantleted hands - the gold gleaming and catching in the moonlight - caressing the blade, like a lost lover.

My voice brings him back to reality.

"Hero," I whisper, one hand rising to push back a strand of silk spun gold behind one ear, "It is time. Deliver the final blow - in this, I shall aid you."

He nods, once, briefly.

Link fights because he has to.

He turns on his heel, rushing back towards where he left Ganon, and I smile when I see the pig still down, on the ground - the Hero has delt some serious blows upon his form, and now the King is crippled. Helpless before us and our will. As Link's boots thud a rythm as he runs with a limp towards his downed prey, I follow slowly behind, my dress billowing behind me in the sudden wind.

If Link were to have given up the fight at any point in his journey, Ganon would have hunted him down, anyway - to destroy all threats before they can destroy you is the rule to sucessful domination - and Link knew that. He knew that even if he were to stop fighting, even if he were to have ever surrended, Ganondorf would still have come after him, would have hunted him down to the farthest reaches of the world, would have found him no matter where he hid.

The wind pushes my hair back and brings to me the scent of blood and fire and of death - of fresh sweat and of gore. Link begins his final blows to our foe, slicing into the beast's face as if it were paper, and with each strike the blood flows down his blade and down on to his arms and into the fabric of his tunic, down his front all the way to the ground where the pool only continues to grow.

The battle has been decided - and the end draws near. Ganon, once a King, now a fool, stares at me with beady red eyes and I smile back at him, my malice and anger leeching through my skin uncontrolled after years of being withheld within. His own anger becomes tangilble and I can feel his soul twist and degrade further as he becomes even less of a man.

As I said earlier, we three are all demons, in our own ways.

Had Ganon been wise, he would have recognized the threat of Link far sooner in his war - he would have actively sought him out. He would have known that I was to make him my pawn, my warrior, my monster, and he would have eliminated him and made me defenseless. I would have been useless and alone and weak and frail - I would have been _his_ and he could have won this war, but by letting Link live and wander as freely as he did, Ganon sealed is own doom.

For while Power has its strength, and Courage its bravery, Wisdom needs a _sword._

_And the world dances on our delicate balance._

I may go to Hell for the sins that I have committed, but there shall be no doubt about my accomplishments. It was _I_ that saved this world, it was _I_ that protected the Land of Hyrule from the King of Evil, it was _I_ who raised and broke and recreated the Hero of Time and set him loose upon our enemies, and it was _I_ that lead my creature upon its path. I revealed to Link the clues and the songs that he needed to free the sages.

It is _I_ who shall deal the final blow.

Link completes his final strike, his sword bitting in deep between Ganon's eyes and he shrieks once more, the sound high pitched and wavering wildly, but Link keeps the blade firmly implanted even as the other twists and flails and he looks at me again with pleading eyes as he tries to keep the King of Evil still. Despite the number of wounds and the bloodloss, Ganon isn't ready to give up yet - but he has no choice.

Without me, Hyrule was doomed to wither like flora in the desert.

I raise my hands, and the colors of the rainbows dance across my palms for one brief second before locking on to a blazing white. My voice echoes through the air as I call with all my might, calling to the other sages and asking them, no, _demanding_ that they lend me their power. Light flows forth from me and into my opponent and Ganondorf _screams_ and Link at last steps aside, sheathing his bloody weapon and staring at me through a veil of blood streaked hair.

_I_ shall deliver the final blow.

Ganon looks at me one final time and this time its his eyes that are desperate, and to a degree, pleading. He knows the fate I am about to bestow upon him and he is not pleased, I can see the worry and the fear in his eyes as his broken body shudders underneath the strength of my magic. The truths of all his failures open up before his eyes and defeat lays its crushing weight upon his shoulders and he simultaneously silently begs for my mercy and curses me with every fiber of his being.

I smile.

Knowledge may be a blessing, but Wisdom is cruel.

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_A/N : There. It's done. This has been completely redone - very little of the original material was kept at all._

_So, do I like it? Kinda sorta, but since I just typed this up this is going to take a few days for me to get used to and decide if it needs further reworking, however this entire thing was done in the span of three and a half hours, so I must say that's not too bad, especially considering that three fifths of the way through my computer shut down and I lost approximately 2.5kb of the story that I had to redo as best as I could remember._

_If there's anything that doesn't make any sense, just point it on out to me, and I'll give it a fix up. I'm not quite sure if the ending gets the point across, but hey. Let me know, and check back every now and then - you never know when this might get revised further._

_Please, reviews are much appreciated._


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